US President Donald Trump would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile programme if negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail, US media reported on Sunday.
Trump made the remarks when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in December, according to a CBS News report, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
US military and intelligence officials have also discussed how Washington could assist Israel in potential operations against Iran’s missile infrastructure, including providing aerial refueling for Israeli aircraft and helping secure overflight permissions from related regional countries, according to the report.
However, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have publicly stated they would not allow their airspace to be used for any attacks on Iran, nor for Iran to launch attacks on other countries.
Rubio prefers diplomacy
Also on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to Slovakia that he prefers resolving tensions with Iran through diplomatic means.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian negotiating delegation to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the second round of Iran-US talks and other diplomatic activities on the evening of February 15.
In addition to participating in the talks on February 17, Araghchi will also meet with the Swiss foreign minister, the Omani foreign minister, and the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, among other officials.
A second round of US-Iran nuclear talks is expected to be held in Geneva on Tuesday.
Rubio confirmed that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will represent Washington in the negotiations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that the country’s missile programme was “never negotiable” in talks with the US.
On Saturday, Araghchi shared excerpts of his interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera in Persian on his Telegram channel.
Commenting on indirect negotiations on Friday between Iran and the US that focused solely on Iran’s nuclear programme, Araghchi said they were a good “start”, but there is a long way ahead to build trust.
Iran could target US bases
Washington has, over the past months, been calling on Iran to curb its missile programme, a demand Tehran has firmly rejected.
“Missiles are never negotiable, as they are a defence issue,” Araghchi said. “We hope to see this approach in US policy.”
The US and Israel failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities even through bombing the country’s atomic facilities last June, he said, asserting Iran’s “inalienable” right to continue uranium enrichment on its soil.
Regarding a potential US attack, Araghchi said it would not be possible for Iran to attack US soil, but it could target American bases in West Asia.
Friday’s negotiations between the US and Iranian delegations, headed by Witkoff and Araghchi, marked a renewed diplomatic effort amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington in view of the latter’s military buildup in the region.
